Samuel L. Jackson

An explosive and prolific actor who didn't become a household name until after age 40, Jackson started out onstage in the '70s, working with the acclaimed Negro Ensemble Company and New York Shakespeare Festival and occasionally booking bit parts in TV shows and films. During the '80s he began a fruitful relationship with director Spike Lee, who gave him small but memorable roles in School Daze, Do the Right Thing and Mo' Better Blues. But it was Jackson's harrowing turn as a crack addict in Lee's 1991 flick Jungle Fever that finally got him noticed — ironic considering the troubled actor had quit doing drugs with the help of his long-suffering wife, actress LaTanya Richardson, the year before. Subsequently, he effortlessly moved from comedies (Amos & Andrew) to action flicks (Jurassic Park ) to dramas (Fresh) and earned an Oscar nod for his flashy turn as a Bible-quoting, fast-food-chain-analyzing hit man in 1994's Pulp Fiction. Around this time, Jackson began appearing in a staggering number of projects (perhaps to make up for the lean years), without regard to their quality, often while yelling his lines to the point of parody. Many of these movies were blockbusters, including the xXx and Star Wars franchises, and Jackson remained a veritable pop-culture icon.